ICC delegation visits Pakistan ahead of ICC Champions Trophy 2025; India’s participation to also be discussed

Hyderabad: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has appointed a five-member delegation comprising officials from the ICC Events and Security teams along with the General Manager and Production Manager for an inspection visit to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

The top officials from ICC have made their way to Karachi on Tuesday to inspect security and other arrangements ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

Pakistan are the hosts of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and the tournament is expected to take place early next year.

The ICC delegation will hold discussions on the tentative schedule of the tournament that the Pakistan Cricket Board had prepared and sent to the ICC. According to the tentative schedule, all of India’s matches have been scheduled at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

Given the prevailing circumstances between India and Pakistan, the countries have stopped playing bilateral series. The only time India and Pakistan get to play is in ICC tournaments. The last time Pakistan played in India was during the 2023 ODI World Cup and the last time India had visited Pakistan was in 2007.

The last bilateral series between the two teams was played in the 2012-13 season.

The Indian government has taken a decision to not send the Indian team to Pakistan to participate in the ICC Champions Trophy. The last time Pakistan hosted a continental tournament was the Asia Cup and it was held in a hybrid model with India playing all their matches in Sri Lanka while Pakistan played all their matches in Pakistan.

The ICC delegation will also discuss the point of India not travelling to Pakistan to take part in the tournament with the PCB, mooting the idea of conducting the tournament on a hybrid model once again.

Meanwhile, the ICC Pitch Consultant Andy Atkinson had visited Pakistan thrice since April to oversee the pitch work in different stadiums.

The ICC delegation will also inspect the ongoing remodelling and construction work of stadiums, team hotel arrangements, logistics discussions in Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore.

After discussions, the ICC will finalise and release the tournament schedule.